


Kyle-01

by Jerbic



Category: El Goonish Shive
Genre: Escape, Healing, Homelessness, Love, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 08:39:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jerbic/pseuds/Jerbic
Summary: In an Alternative Universe EGS another Human/Animal/Uryuom/Lespuko hybrid besides Grace is introduced.  He aids someone in desperate need.





	1. 1.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU EGS that takes place between Christmas and New Years of their senior year.  
> Many thanks to the EGS Wiki for keeping me on track with minutiae needed to back up events in the story. Thanks guys!

1.  
The 26th of December is always the busiest day in retail. Everyone is returning/exchanging Christmas gifts that don't fit or where the receiver just wants something else.

Neither of these was the case for Judith Pompoms. She and Susan were at the grocery store that morning stocking up on a few essentials that were needed after the holiday. Susan had gone to another store while her mother loaded the few items into the trunk of her car.

Judith closed the trunk lid and found herself staring into the eyes of a man wearing a full face mask. His eyes were cruel looking with a sneer on his mouth as he said to give him her purse. She looked to see if there was anyone who might help her, but they had parked on the side of the grocery store building as the main parking lot was full. No one else was visible except two accomplices to the man in front of her.

She started to refuse but the first man backhanded her in the side of her face with his closed fist.

He had hit her hard and she went down to her knees. He tried to grab her purse from her hands but she held stubbornly onto the strap.

This infuriated the man so much that he began striking her in the face with his fist repeatedly. “Goddammit Bitch, let go!” he said to her in an evilly menacing voice.

Judith felt bones in her face crunching as he struck her. The pain was excruciating and she felt she might pass out. She couldn't rise to protect herself so she slumped down and tried to cover her face and head as best she could. 

Suddenly the assault stopped. There was silence followed by a voice that calmly stated “That's enough”.

Judith opened her good eye and looked upward. There was a large man standing with his back toward her, but facing the three muggers. He was dressed in an old green coat like the kind you get at an army/navy store, and jeans. His legs were shoulder width apart and arms were away from his sides with balled fists. He looked like he meant business.

The three muggers looked at each other, then back to the man. Each drew a knife. 

“OK motherfucker, the leader of the group said. We're gonna mess you up. Then we're gonna finish with that bitch for not giving up the goods”.

Judith was truly afraid for herself AND the man. He was one person armed with only his hands against three with knives.

Suddenly, through her blurred vision, the man seemed to grow, and she thought she heard a snarl; an animal-like snarl. And did she see CLAWS appear from his fingertips? She heard screams of fear, then silence as she fainted from the pain.

Judith woke moments later with the man at her side. She winced as he moved his hands toward her, but he assured her that he wasn't going to injure her further. Through her blurred vision she saw that the man was actually a teenager about the same age as Susan. She tried to rise but he told her to lie still and not to move. Her pain helped to convince her to do as he instructed. She attempted to protest as he took her hand in one of his and cradled her head with the other. His touch was gentle.

He seemed to be concentrating and saying to himself…”fractured mandible...fractured facial bones...fractured teeth...OH!” he exclaimed. “There's something deeper”.

He seemed to increase his concentration. “That's…bad,” he said matter-of-factly.  
“He couldn't know thought Judith. How could he know?”

The stranger ceased his deliberation, sat back and thought for a few seconds. He seemed to come to a decision.

“This won't hurt at all”, he said simply. He released Judith's hand and placed both of his hands on the sides of her head, being careful not to put pressure on her fractures.

The stranger quietly said…”heal”...and she did! One instant she had multiple facial fractures, a fractured jaw, and broken teeth, and terrible pain. The next she was whole again. The pain was completely gone. Judith felt...new! 

“GET AWAY FROM MY MOTHER” they both heard Susan yell, followed by a “KERTHWA… “

Judith looked up and saw the stranger holding the head of a large wooden hammer in his hand. He had stopped it before it had hit him in the head.

Susan was on the other end of the hammer with a very surprised look on her face. No one had ever stopped a hammer before. 

“Susan...wait!, her mother said. He...he didn't hurt me”. 

Her mother was half sitting on the pavement, blood was on her top, a large stranger had been holding her head between his hands so Susan was a bit skeptical.

“You’re alright now”, he stated simply. “The other is also healed”. THAT statement sent cold chills down her back. 

“Wha...what do you mean”? Judith asked. 

“You know”, he replied slowly. 

Judith noticed the stranger was starting to look unwell. His skin was turning pale and he had a pained expression on his face that hadn't been there before.

“I'm calling the police if you don't get away from my mother”, Susan said, reaching for her phone. The hammers were one thing, but summoning a real magic weapon like a sword, or mace was something else. He hadn't made a threatening move since he stopped the hammer so she thought she might intimidate him with the authorities.

“I… I would appreciate it if you didn't do that, he said to Susan. I'm going now”. “I doubt those men will be back”. That was said to Judith. 

He stood up and both women took better stock in the stranger. He was tall, well over 6 feet, broad at the shoulders. His hair was reddish brown. His clothing had seen better days. His shirt, coat, and pants were all worn thin. The tennis shoes he wore were almost in tatters. He looked homeless.

“WAIT...please”, Judith implored as the stranger started to leave. “Please...who are you?”

“Kyle, ma'am”, he said simply. 

“What is your LAST name Kyle”, Susan asked so she could tell the police.

“I...don't have a last name, ma'am”. And with that, he walked away into the woods beside the store.


	2. 2.

2.  
After Kyle disappeared into the woods, Susan wheeled toward her mother and stated she was taking her to the Emergency Department. She HAD to be injured because blood didn't just appear from nowhere. 

Judith was very confused. She tried to tell Susan about the muggers, the beating she received, the arrival of the stranger and what happened afterward. As she tried to describe her being healed of her injuries she realized just how fantastic what she was saying sounded. Judith didn't say anything about the “other thing”. She hadn't come to grips with that herself, and she wasn't going to burden Susan with it just yet. There was still time.

“Mom, are you telling me that some strange teenager faced down three grown criminals armed with weapons, with just his bare hands, and that they ran when he GROWLED at them? That sounds really unbelievable”, Susan asked skeptically. Then he healed your injuries by touching you?”

“Did I tell you he got larger and grew claws too”, Judith added?

“Mom, that's impos…” Susan stopped mid-sentence. She had seen Grace's battle form before and this sounded suspiciously like it, or something akin to it. 

“Did he have fur?” she asked her mom.

“Don't make fun of me Susan!” Judith replied angrily. She never spoke harshly to her daughter. After what the two of them had been through with the divorce, they had been each other's support structure over the years. Her question had struck Judith wrong though and she responded reflexively, instantly regretting having done it.

“I'm sorry Susie”, she said, reverting to Susan's childhood name she had given her. “I swear it happened just like I said. I was hurt so badly by those men and he fixed me with just a touch. I can't explain it any better”.

This didn't make sense to Susan. From what she knew of Grace, a Seyunolu had great power and strength, but whatever abilities they possessed were internal only. They couldn't affect other people with their power except with telekinesis and had to suppress their Uryuom abilities in order to use human magic. To her knowledge, Grace was the only confirmed hybrid of her type.

“I don't need to go to the hospital Susan”, her mother said. “I feel fine...great even! I just want to go home and put away the groceries”. Judith had something else she desperately wanted to do also.

“OK mom, you win”, Susan said finally defeated. “You tell me if you begin to feel bad though”.

“I promise sweetheart”, replied her mother.

 

Kyle had come to Moperville 3 days prior and had intended to keep a low profile while here. He had been on the run for the past three years after having escaped from the lab where was created and he didn't want to attract attention.

The laboratory where he was born was in the Northern Virginia area near Arlington. Kyle was a greater chimera, with DNA from a human male, a Uryuom, a Lespuko, and a Red Fox. He was created to be a weapon; he knew this, but he didn’t know against what. His creators had also tried to breed submissiveness into him. After all, a weapon needs to be easily controlled in order `to be used. What they didn't realize was that the combination of DNA sources actually resulted in a highly independent and free-thinking individual who had absolutely no desire to be a weapon. As he grew, Kyle learned to hide his true nature from his creator/captors. He learned the skills they taught him and he became a formidable individual. By the time they learned what he truly was though, he had escaped.

To his knowledge, he was the only one of his kind. Kyle had never heard of Grace Sciuridae.

He hadn't intended to get involved with people yet, he just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time to help Judith Pompoms. His ability to heal was an unexpected power that he developed several years prior. He had apparently “awakened” sometime around age thirteen. 

The healing spell was an extension of his own ability to rapidly heal from injuries. He was able to “read” what was wrong with someone, then use “magic” to heal that malady. When used, the healing was instantaneous; one instant you had an injury, the next it was gone. 

The downside to this ability is that it places a considerable strain on the person wielding it. The power needed to repair someone else’s injury; cell for cell, blood vessel for blood vessel, and tissue for tissue is enormous. It could tax even the strongest of individuals. That is what Kyle was experiencing now. 

When he read Judith's condition, he knew she needed his help, especially with her deeper condition. He couldn't just walk away and leave her with her injuries. So...he healed her. He felt the strain immediately and almost missed the hammer blow aimed at him. He was surprised at Susan's ability to summon weapons. Once he had read her aura though, he could see she was a powerful huntress. In his weakened state, he needed to get away and rest, and quickly. He did NOT need to deal with the authorities Susan had threatened to call.

He surprised himself that he told his name to Judith though. He hoped that mistake wouldn't return to bite him in the ass.

He hadn't lied to her about his last name. He really did not have one. At the lab, his designation had been Kyle-01. No last name, just a dash and a number.


	3. 3.

3.  
“I need another MRI Brenda”, Judith said simply to her neurosurgeon. 

Dr. Brenda Allen was incredulous. “Judith, you have already had two done. The first was where we found the Glioblastoma, the second was to confirm the diagnosis of the first. What will a third one accomplish except to expensively confirm what we already know?” 

“Cost is not a factor Brenda, you know that Judith answered. I just feel like something may have changed and I want to know for sure, either way”. 

“What would have changed in one week’s time Judith?” Brenda asked. “Is this because you want to be really sure because you haven't told Susan yet? She needs to know!”

“I said I would tell her when I was able to do so Bren. How do you tell your lone child that her mother has only months to live?”

“Judith, even with all the patients I have treated with this, I still can't say that I understand how you feel. Only someone who is facing this cancer can do that”, Brenda replied. “You say something has changed. I just don't want to give you false hopes”.

“You've always been a straight shooter with me Brenda, all through school. Please do this for me”, Judith pleaded.

Dr. Allen sighed deeply and said…”Alright Judith, you know I could never refuse you. We've been friends too long to change now.” Brenda smiled as she said that. “I’ll set it up to be done now, while you're here.” 

“Thank you Brenda, you're the best!”

The events of this morning really troubled Susan Pompoms. Her mother had declared she had been robbed and beaten severely. Susan could not find any evidence of injury except the blood that had been on Judith's blouse, but she had sworn it happened. Coupled with this was the fact that she also swore that a stranger had just walked up, saved her from her attackers then healed her of her injuries with a touch. The only thing that seemed feasible was the description of “Kyle” shape-shifting. If only her mother had been able to see his face when this happened, but his back had been towards her. The claws fit with a Seyunolu battle form. 

She called Edward Verres, Ted's father, and resident expert on greater chimera.  
He had to be...one lived with him and was in love with his son. She was also the most gentle/powerful person Susan knew.

“No Susan, Mr. Verres said, to my knowledge, there are no other individuals like Grace. Why do you ask?” He sounded concerned as he asked this as Susan rarely called him without a good reason.

“Because my mom was helped by someone today who sounds suspiciously like one”, she replied.

Susan then related what her mother had told her to Edward. He listened calmly, taking in everything she said. Once she was finished he said to her…”The laboratory where Grace was born was destroyed by Damian. Aside from her “family”, no other chimeras were created and almost all of the scientists involved were killed. We asked Vladia, Hedge, and Guineas about things like this when we relocated them to the reorientation facility. They confirmed what I just told you.”

“What about other labs capable of doing this?” Susan pressed. Could they have existed somewhere else?”

“I am not aware of any Susan, but I will need to investigate this further. If another chimera such as Grace exists, we need to get a handle on it, so to speak.  
I would not want a being this powerful to be a loose cannon. The fact that he helped your mother in her time of need IS reassuring though. If you see him again, please call me immediately”.

After hanging up with Susan, Edward sat in deep thought for a while. He then called to Lavender, his Uryuom assistant to please bring all records on Project Lycanthrope as well as all possible similarities for the same time.

“Two separate labs, working on identical projects”, he thought. “That would be too much of a coincidence”, he said worriedly.

Judith sat in Dr. Allen's office after the brain MRI had been completed. Brenda had promised she would have the procedure read as quickly as possible for her friend. It had been extraordinarily painful to give Judith what was essentially a death sentence the week prior. She had known her since grade school and the two had remained fast friends throughout the years. The news had hit Judith very hard. As she began to read through the images Brenda felt a great sadness that she was going to dash the hopes her friend had built. Fifteen months, tops, was the time she told Judith she had left. This included surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and none of it would change the eventual outcome. She was concentrating on these thoughts when she realized that over half the images had been viewed yet none had shown the tumor that had been found last week. 

“Wait a minute”, she said. The cancer should have shown up by now in these views. Brenda returned to the beginning of the series to re-review them, concentrating fully on what she was looking at. Forty-five minutes and three total views later she was stunned. One MRI is sufficient to diagnose a tumor such as this. She performed a second to confirm what the first had shown, just to be sure for her friend. Now, this third procedure failed to show any cancer in her brain at all. She had performed the test herself. The machine had worked flawlessly. She couldn't have been mistaken with the first two, or this one. There was no explanation for the results, the cancer simply was no longer there. 

Her hands shook as she asked her receptionist to escort Ms. Pompoms to her office.

Before Judith settled into the proffered chair Brenda walked around the desk and hugged her.

“I have some amazing, unexplainable news Judith!” started Brenda, who began crying. 

Judith already knew!


	4. 4.

4.  
Kyle walked around the northern side of Moperville for several hours while he recovered. The spell he used for healing was an “all or nothing” type. Once started, it continued until it had fully run its course. Depending on the extent of injury determined how much power the spell drew from the person wielding it. It could potentially be fatal for the user if the receiver was hurt badly enough. Luckily, Judith's injuries, though significant, didn't require a large amount of energy. Healing the Glioblastoma did though. This is what affected Kyle the most, and caused him the most pain. 

He knew he needed to eat something also. It had been hours since his last meal and he was hungry. One of the biggest problems with being on the run was you never knew where your next meal was coming from. He frequented several of the homeless shelters in the area that offered a hot meal. He tried to not take advantage of any one of them too often. He didn't want his location to be predictable. If necessary, he could shape-shift to his fox form and hunt for small game. In that form, raw meat didn't bother him as it would have as a human.

As a last resort, he had been known to visit the garbage containers of restaurants. When one is on the run you can't have too much of a discriminating palate. Kyle decided tonight would be a homeless shelter night. Afterward, he would return to the packing crate he used as a shelter to rest. After three years of this, he felt this existence was getting very old.

On the way home from her doctor's office Judith Pompoms felt she had been given a second chance at life. She had actually. She had been living with that Damocles Sword overhead for a week; the diagnosis, the denial, the anger, not being to bring herself to tell her daughter. Now she was free of all of that. Well, she still needed to tell Susan, but the outcome was 180 degrees different from what it was before. As she walked to her front door her soul felt light. As she entered the house Susan was in the den reading a book. “Sweetheart, Judith began, we need to talk…”

“Your cancer is gone?!” Susan asked incredulously. 

Judith had come home from the Doctor’s office, set her daughter in front of her, and told her everything about her diagnosis. She said how she had been having headaches of increasing frequency and severity for about a month prior. How she had gone to her Neurosurgeon friend who ordered the MRI which discovered the tumor in her cerebrum. How they both had insisted on a second to confirm the diagnosis, and then the third after the stranger Kyle had healed her, the one that showed her cancer had vanished. Judith related how Kyle knew from just a touch that she had the tumor and told her that it had been healed. She apologized repeatedly for not telling Susan sooner, but that she had not come to grips with the diagnosis until now. 

Susan was incredulous. Her mother was going to die soon, then suddenly she wasn't. She was overjoyed at her recovery but angry Judith had waited so long to tell her. She told her mother that she should never have lived through the hell she had for the past week by herself. Susan said that she would have been there for her, giving her support. 

Judith hugged her daughter fiercely and apologized repeatedly. After a period of time, Susan calmed down. Judith told Susan they needed to find Kyle, at the very least to thank him for what he had done. Susan agreed to help her.

They started looking the next morning.

The packing crate Kyle used as a shelter was in a deserted alley between two abandoned buildings in the seedy part of Moperville. Because of his size, the other homeless in the area tended to avoid him so there was no danger of anyone trying to take over his “home”. 

Kyle wished for company. He hadn't had any real significant contact with people since he had escaped. While he was cognizant of the need to avoid associating with people to protect himself from discovery, as a human he needed to have relationships, platonic or otherwise. Even at the facility, bad as it was, he could talk to people. Even when he had to “dumb down” his intellect to hide how smart he was, he still had satisfying conversations with people. This is one of the things he missed most. Just talking to people. It was too dangerous to do this now. Someone might remember him if questions were asked by the wrong person. 

At twelve he had hacked into the computer system and read about himself. He didn't like what he read. There in electronic letters was his life story.

Before that day he had been told his family had died in an accident and the courts had placed him at the facility. He had accepted this without question because of his young age. He had been lied to. The scientists had told him his name had been Owen. When he read his true name, Kyle-01, he realized where his last name originated. Zero-one, Oh-one, Owen. 

Kyle read how he had been “blended” to produce a powerful weapon that was to be marginally intelligent and easily controlled. Apparently, they didn't like their weapons too smart or too independent. 

It listed the names and species of the four sources of DNA used. The animal Red Fox was the only name he recognized. He DID learn what a Uryuom and a Lespuko were. Before this, he had never heard of them. 

So...Kyle found out he was one half space alien, one-fourth human, and one-fourth fox, who had never been part of a family.

He had always been able to shape-shift. Even as a toddler he changed to his fox form and back again. As he got older, he discovered the other forms; half-human/half-fox, and his  
Lespuko variant. Kyle didn't like the rock ape hybrid form. It made him feel not in control of himself sometimes.

What he DID like was the ability to levitate himself, as well as other objects in his half-human/half-fox form. Being able to fly was amazing to him.

The scientists all believed him to be only marginally intelligent as an infant. They found that as he grew older, he was much smarter than they had ever imagined. They depended on what they thought was his inbred submissiveness to control his behavior. This was also a mistake. He was just extremely easy-going in his nature and that was perceived as submissiveness. To be honest, the scientists were afraid to test this in him.

He read about how he was to be trained in “human magic” once he awakened in a few years. More importantly, how he was to use it to hurt people.

The more Kyle read the more he knew he had to get away from that place. They wanted him to be an assassin...a killer, and this was something he decided would never happen.

He began to make mistakes in testing to make them believe he wasn't as intelligent as he was. When he awakened at age thirteen, he hid it from his handlers. 

Finally, at age fourteen he got his chance. He had learned about all he was going to from this facility. He had read books in the library on personal survival in the wild. He discovered that he was impervious to either heat or cold so the climate wasn't going to be a factor. Most importantly, he found a flaw in the perimeter fencing just wide enough to admit an animal the size of a red fox. It was hidden from view by underbrush. He knew it was only a matter of time before it was discovered and repaired so he needed to move quickly.

He walked the grounds as he always had. When he arrived at the hole beneath the fencing he shifted to his fox form and under he went. They never knew he was gone until later at headcount. Then all hell broke loose. Kyle was long gone by then. 

He stole clothing from those drying outdoors from homes in the area. The same for shoes. Kyle traveled mostly at night allowing him to use his levitation forms to fly. This prevented him from leaving tracks or a scent for dogs. Traveling at night also made it unlikely he would be seen by bystanders and reported. He went due west for about 100 miles then followed a zigzag course afterward. 

Since that time he had always looked over his shoulder, everywhere he went. He reached Moperville in his third year of running. He was so very tired of running…


	5. 5.

5.  
“That sneaky little bastard!” Mr. Verres declared to himself.  
Edward Verres poured over the documents Lavender had brought him searching for anything that might allude to the creation of a second Tulougol Seyunolu like Grace. He had been coming up empty. It then occurred to him that, like in law enforcement investigations, he needed to “follow the money”. In this case, the “money” were the eggs used to blend the DNA and gestate the infant. The only readily available source for this for Project Lycanthrope was a Uryoum with the genetic anomaly of being able to produce eggs without the aid of another of his kind, Mr. Guyur. 

He had been killed by Damien when he had attacked the lab where Grace had been born years ago. Before that happened, he had supplied at least five eggs to the facility, resulting in the creation of Damien, Guineas, Hedge, Vlad/Vladia, and Grace. 

Edward began searching back at most twenty years, based on Susan's description, to see if Mr. Guyur could have been supplying other facilities in other areas. He found that seventeen years ago he had traveled to the Arlington, Virginia area, spent several days there, and then returned. There was no information of any family in that area, or any real reason for being there. He never returned to that area again. That had to be it.  
He notified Assistant Director Liefeld of his findings so it could be investigated further.

It was snowing the morning of the 27th of December when Judith and Susan began searching for the stranger named Kyle. They began driving around the areas where homeless shelters were in hopes they would glimpse him there. They concentrated in the area where the grocery store was, reasoning that if he were on foot he wouldn't travel very far from wherever he was living. Kyle's “home” was about a mile from the store.

As the morning wore on, the snow intensified and the temperature began to drop precipitously. Judith began to despair at finding him. “What if he's out in this?! she exclaimed. He could freeze to death if we don't find him!” As they rode on Susan heard muffled crying coming from her mother but didn't want to embarrass her by calling attention to it.

Susan was surprised at her mother's emotional state. She too was concerned about this person named Kyle, but she wasn't almost hysterical with it. Judith was truly worried about him to the point of actually sobbing. 

Finally, Susan couldn't take it anymore and pulled over to park. She embraced her mom and hugged her to her. Judith cried in her arms and said “What if he's dead and I never get to tell him how thankful I am for what he did? He gave my life back to me...to us!” With that last statement, Susan Pompoms began to choke up too.

They held each other for several minutes until Susan finally said they needed to get looking again. Judith thanked her daughter for being there with her and comforting her when she needed it most. That just killed Susan and she began to get the snubs again. As they drove, Susan told her mom how much she loved her and meant to her. Judith had been so supportive of Susan over the years since the divorce. She had known it had been especially hard on her daughter. She had done everything she could to ease the pain; even to the point of doting on her whenever possible.

They had entered the “not so nice” part of Moperville. As they rode past the last homeless shelter, and failing to find him, both began to despair. “It’s not looking good mom”, Susan said. The snow was coming down heavy now, and it was bitterly cold.

Suddenly, Susan hit the brakes and exclaimed “There he is!” and pointing to a tall reddish brown haired male, wearing a green army coat, turning into an alleyway.

Susan parked the car and both she and Judith jumped out and walked quickly to where they saw him turn in. As they looked down the alley they saw no one. Judith looked right and left, up and down for the person. He couldn't have left the other end of the alley that quickly. “Where did he go?” she asked Susan.  
As she looked down the alleyway, Susan noticed a large packing crate sitting beside the wall of an abandoned building. She pointed it out to her mother and they both walked over to it.

Neither was sure what to do, so they did the most reasonable thing they could think of…they knocked. They were really surprised when a familiar voice answered “Who is it?”

“Please, it’s the lady you helped yesterday. My name is Judith Pompoms and I REALLY need to talk to you. Please come out!”  
Susan remained quiet throughout this as she thought he might feel threatened by her presence. She HAD tried to brain him with a hammer after all. 

A portion of the side of the crate opened like a garage door allowing Kyle to see the two women. Without wielding hammers, and with the snow caught in her hair, he thought Susan was the most beautiful women he had seen. Ms. Pompoms was no slouch either. 

“It’s too cold for you two to be out in this weather”, he scolded them. 

Both Judith and Susan started laughing in response to that. Here they were, worried sick that Kyle would freeze, and he decried them for the same thing. The irony was humorous.

The inside of his crate was lined with crumpled newspapers providing an air barrier against the cold. This was actually more for cushioning for his frame since he wasn't affected by cold, but the Pompoms didn't know that.

“It’s also too cold for you to be out here living in a box young man!” Judith replied. Susan nodded in agreement.

Kyle gave them both a quizzical look. No one had cared about his personal condition since his escape. He wasn't used to being treated this way.

“Where else would you suggest I go ma'am?” He replied. He knew what the answer was going to be before they even said it.

Susan snapped back, “A homeless shelter doofus, at least it’s warm!” She immediately regretted answering that way and apologized.

“No apology is needed ma'am”, he replied to Susan. If I were in a position to do so, I might be at one. As it happens though, I'm not.”

Neither Susan nor Judith understood, but he didn't elaborate.

Ms. Pompoms looked at the state of his clothes and exclaimed that he must be freezing. Kyle replied that cold really didn't bother him at all. Neither Judith nor Susan were convinced. They both had begun to shiver, even in their heavy coats. This young man was dressed much lighter than they were; with just a light jacket. He MUST be freezing. And LOOK at the state of his shoes. They literally had holes in them. They could see his socks through the holes.

“Young man, I want you to come with us please, Judith insisted. You cannot stay in this weather; you'll freeze to death if you do. Please come where you can be warm and fed, at least until the weather breaks...” 

As Judith spoke, Susan was wondering where Judith was talking about taking Kyle. He said he couldn't go to a homeless shelter, and he had definitely wanted to avoid the police at their last meeting, so where was she talking about. So far she hasn't seen anything to lead her to believe he was anything other than what he appeared to be. A homeless person. A magic user maybe, but not another Grace.

...I…I want you to come home with us”, Judith said plainly.

“WHAAAAT?!” both Susan and Kyle exclaimed together.

“MOTHER! Susan exclaimed, this isn't a good idea! No...This is a BAD idea. We know nothing about him. He’s avoiding the police; he could be a criminal for all we know”. 

As Susan spoke Kyle was nodding in agreement. “Ms. Pompoms...please...listen to your daughter! You don't know anything about me; where I came from or what I've had to do to survive in the past. You CAN'T do this!” 

“I can do anything I want young man”, stated Judith. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen ma'am”, he answered. It never even occurred to him to lie about his age. 

Susan was surprised at his age, the same as hers. This changed things. He was a homeless teenager, her age. How would she do if their places were switched?

“Please son, you gave me my life back”. Judith began to tear up again. “I don't know how, but you did! I can’t leave you here like this...I...I just can't. Please come home with us”, she pleaded.

Until she called him “son” Kyle had intended to refuse. He would have to leave and find another place to stay, somewhere they wouldn't find him again. That all changed with that one three-letter word…”son”. No one had ever called him that...not in his lifetime. It was a deeply personal sobriquet she had used. At least that's how it felt to him. He knew she hadn't meant it in the literal sense, but she had said it just the same. He choked back an internal sob as he answered.

“Alright ma'am, he said. Though I want you to promise me you will tell me it's time for me to leave if you feel I'm overstaying my welcome, even if it’s just a day”.

“I promise young man...Kyle!”


	6. 6.

6.  
The ride back to the Pompoms home was uneventful. Both of the ladies were freezing, so Judith turned the heat up in the vehicle. Kyle rode in the front passenger seat at Judith’s insistence with Susan behind him in the back seat. Every now and then Kyle expected a hammer to come whistling into the back of his head, but that never materialized. He had collected what few possessions he had from the crate. A knapsack containing change of clothes was all there was, and they were in no better shape than the ones he was wearing. 

As they entered the Snootville Creek subdivision Kyle noted the opulence of the area he was headed into. He didn't say anything to the Pompoms though.

As they pulled in front of their home he gave a slight gasp. He had never seen a house this big before. This was the size of several buildings at the lab. He wanted to ask how many people lived here but thought better of it.

If the outside of the house hadn't intimidated Kyle, the inside surely did. It looked bigger than the outside! It was warm, bright, and airy. Kyle was used to the insides of places like shelters, cramped and dark. THIS was Incredible! He stopped in the foyer and just looked around dumbstruck. 

“Is something wrong Kyle? Susan asked, noticing the look on his face.

“No ma'am, he replied. I'm just… a little overwhelmed right now. I've never seen, much less been in a house this big.”

Neither Susan nor Judith knew how to respond to this. They had always taken for granted the things they had and the home they lived in. Here was somebody who essentially had nothing, and they never even thought to consider how he would feel suddenly thrust into their world.

Judith walked over and took him by the arm, then led him to one of the guest rooms to get him settled. 

“You brought him home with you!” Edward Verres asked incredulously.

“What did you expect us to do Mr. Verres?” replied Susan. He’s only seventeen so he's a minor like me. He saved my mother, it was freezing outside, snow was falling in sheets, and he was living in a wooden box! Did you think we would just leave him there to die?” 

“No Susan, I did NOT expect you to “just leave him there”. In retrospect, you and your mother did the only thing you really could have done. What I want you to do though is to make him comfortable so he will stay for at least through tomorrow. I want him to meet Grace. If he IS a chimera like her, he needs to know he isn't alone. If he isn't, then we can help him find assistance. He's obviously been on his own for some time.” 

“Just so you know...I found a lead to another facility where it’s possible for a hybrid to have been created. This could be where Kyle was born if he turns out to be one. There is a team heading to investigate the site further. I'll let you know what turns up.”

After hanging up Susan felt guilty about notifying Mr. Verres without either her mother's or Kyle's permission. She had said that it was the “right thing to do”, but sometimes the right thing to do sucks.

The first thing Kyle did after getting in his room was take a shower. It had been some time since he had been able to do so. The last time was 2 days ago when he went to the YMCA and used the shower facilities at their pool. He luxuriated in the hot water. Even though heat couldn’t injure him, it DID feel good like this. He changed into his spare set of clothes and asked Judith if he could wash the original set. She took them and washed them for him in the washing machine. Judith took a good look at his clothes and asked him how many sets he had. “Just the two”, answered Kyle.

“Kyle, tomorrow we are going shopping, she replied.

The dinner they had that night was the best Kyle had literally ever had. It was for quality, not quantity which was what he had been used to in the shelters. He had watched her cook and season it with real spices. The aroma in the kitchen was like nothing Kyle had ever experienced. She served him herself, he had never had that happen before either. He had always been served cafeteria style. The food was delicious and there was plenty of it. They watched him as he enjoyed his dinner. Susan told her mother later that she had never seen anyone enjoy a meal as much as he had. Judith kept the conversation light and simple. She wanted Kyle to be comfortable with them. He helped clean up and put away the dishes after they had been washed. Then Judith asked both Kyle and Susan to set down so they could talk.

After they were comfortable, Judith began. She asked him about her being healed of her injuries as well as the cancer. She wanted to know how he had done it.

Kyle gave her an odd look at her questions. He felt he was missing something important so he asked her didn't she know about magic and how it worked? Judith gave him an incredulous look and told him that there was no such thing as magic. He then understood what was going on. Judith didn't have a clue as to the existence of magic or its usage. Everyone Kyle had grown up with had an intimate knowledge of magic and its workings. As he avoided people after his escape, it didn't occur to him that that knowledge might not be commonplace. He was going to have to rethink his understanding of the world at large in regards to this.

He sat and collected his thoughts. He thought back to all of the documents he had read at the facility after hacking the system. They had explained things perfectly. 

So he began…”Magic is real Ms. Pompoms. It exists. It is energy or power that humans and other species can tap into and utilize. The word “magic” is just a familiar term used to name something people would recognize.” He went on to explain that all humans have an affinity to use magic, some more so than others. Some humans had such a small affinity that they NEVER got to use it. It just depended on the person. Kyle described his “awakening” at age thirteen and that the healing spell was the only one he possessed at present. He carefully avoided mentioning the facility or that he was an escapee from it. Unless directly asked, he preferred to keep to the current subject. He DID describe the effects of using the healing spell, the pain, the weakness, the draining of energy based on the severity of the injury…

“Oh Goodness! exclaimed Judith. It didn’t hurt you to do this did it?” she asked worriedly.

He assured her that he was absolutely fine and all effects had subsided.

Throughout the conversation Susan had remained absolutely silent. She wasn’t sure what she could say. Here was a stranger telling her mother about one of the most secret subjects unknown to the vast majority of people. She suddenly alerted to his next statement.

“I am very surprised you had no knowledge of this ma’am seeing how Susan is such a powerful magic user”. 

“OH…SHIT! Susan yelled internally. “oh shit.” she said audibly. 

Both Kyle and Judith stared at Susan with that reply.

“Is that true Susie? Judith asked quietly. 

Cornered as she was, Susan could only answer yes.

“We’ll talk later dear” her mother replied. “Oh shit”, both Susan and Kyle thought to themselves.  
Judith looked back at Kyle and asked how he had known about Susan.

He explained his ability to read someone’s aura, which told a lot about someone’s magical ability. He also apologized to them about ratting Susan out on hers.

Once he was done, he asked them if they had any questions. 

Judith had one (a BIG one)…”When you started, you said that ‘humans and other species’ are able to use this power. What other species?” 

“Oh”…Kyle said. Now it was his turn to be cornered. “Did I forget to tell you that I’m one half space alien?’

Judith’s mouth fell open, Susan just bowed and shook her head slowly. “Welp! she thought, that answers THAT question!”

“Kyle…began Judith, could you be just a tad more specific with that last statement?”

So…he told them the full story of the laboratory, the blending of the DNA to create him, his birth, growing up, his shape-shifting ability, the discovery of what was to be his true nature and his rejection of that nature. He told about the last name he rejected, and how he had gotten it. He told of his escape, and his flight over the past three years. That explained his avoidance of authority figures. They were horrified when he told them he had to eat from garbage cans on occasions in order to satisfy his hunger (he assured them that those incidences were very few and far between). He related how he had arrived in Moperville just a few days earlier and had been walking back to his crate when he saw Judith being assaulted. He said that he just couldn’t walk away from this and helped her. 

“Oh my god…” was all Judith could say in response to his story.

Both Susan and Judith were essentially dumbstruck at this. If anything had happened differently over the course of time, their paths would never have crossed, and Judith would still be injured and dying. They both realized this and were overwhelmed the enormity of it. They hugged each other for several minutes.

Once everyone had calmed down Judith asked Kyle about the increase in size and the growth of claws as he faced the attackers. Was that when he changed shape?

“You saw that?” he asked. Judith nodded yes. 

“Well…” he stood up and began to remove his shirt. He saw both women’s discomfort at this action and explained that shape-shifting was often hard on clothes as they didn’t get bigger as he did. He said pants were usually safe but shirts frequently got torn as size increased. They were satisfied with his reason. Kyle stood in the middle of the room and changed to his half human/half fox form. 

Both women were silent. He was over six and a half feet tall and covered in thick reddish-brown fur, his nose and mouth had elongated slightly to form a foxy snout. Not long enough to impede speech, but the effect was dramatic. His nose was black. Two twelve inch, fur covered antennae sprung from his center forehead. He had Foxy ears! His legs were more animal-like so he stood upright on his toes. Kyle had a foxy tail that originated at the base of his spine and protruded over the top of his pants. When he turned, the most conspicuous part of him (next behind the tail) was looking at them. He had golden eyes! Not the entire eye mind you, but the iris of each eye was bright gold in color. 

He is absolutely GORGEOUS both women thought!

“Well, what do you think?” he said. 

There is something about a large, furry, friendly dog-like animal that just begs to be touched. 

Both women jumped up and walked toward him in a way that made Kyle take a step back suddenly. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Judith said noting his discomfiture. “We didn’t mean to startle you. It’s just…”

“May we touch you?” Susan implored. Her mother looked at her surprised as Susan typically avoided touching any person other than family.

“Uuuuuuuuhh…suuure?” Kyle responded. He wasn’t real used to being touched. Aside from when Judith had taken him to his room, he couldn’t remember the last time he had voluntarily let someone put their hands on him.

Both women gently touched the fur on his shoulders and back. It was thick and soft and warm. They avoided touching his chest so as to not make him too uncomfortable. After a few minutes, they retreated to their seats. They both thanked him for indulging them. 

“Did you really grow claws?” Susan asked. In response, two inch long claws extended from his fingertips. They looked sharp and dangerous. “I have never had to us them”, Kyle said as they retracted back. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to revert back to my human self”. And he did. 

“What other shapes can you change to?” asked Judith after he had put his shirt back on.

He told them he could change to a normal fox shape and size. He was glad they didn’t ask to see him do that. His clothes would have fallen off him as they wouldn’t change size with him. He said nothing about his battle form. He wasn’t ready to reveal THAT to them yet. He liked the Pompoms and didn’t want to frighten them.

Judith asked if there were any more like him and instantly regretted having said it. Kyle had a saddened look on his face and answered that he was the only one of his kind at the time of his escape. As far as he knew, he was the only one of his kind, period.

Susan looked at him and said “Weeel…that’s not quite correct”.


	7. 7.

7.  
Both Kyle and Judith started at Susan. What...do you mean? asked Kyle. 

“There...is another Seyunolu, Susan said hesitantly. She’s one of my best friends and dates another of my best friends. Her name is Grace”. 

Kyle was speechless. He sat down on the sofa and held his head in his hands. Ms. Pompoms sat beside him and put her arm around his shoulder. Susan sat on his other side with her hands in her lap. 

After a few minutes he sat upright. His eyes were reddened “I...thought I was the only one. For so many years I thought I was the only one.” He looked at Susan and asked her where Grace came from. Susan told him the story of Grace from where she appeared to Ted last January at his home. She told Kyle of Damien and how her friend Elliot had been kidnapped. Damien's death in the fight with Grace. He took the information in. He finally let out a deep sigh and said…”both labs were trying to create weapons with us. Both labs failed. It could have been so much worse.” He asked if he could he alone for a few minutes. Judith and Susan exchanged worried looks at each other. Seeing this, Kyle promised he would not do anything foolish like run away. With that said, they went into the kitchen to give him privacy.

Susan told her mother about talking to Mr. Verres. She needed to balance the books with this. She said that Edward wanted Kyle to meet Grace. She needed to let him know that he was as they had thought. 

Susan went to her room to call Edward. After she had informed him of the evenings happenings, Edward said that he could be there that night with Grace if need be. Susan said that she would need to ask Kyle if that's what he wanted. She said she would call him back either way. Susan went back down stairs. 

Susan and Judith rejoined Kyle on the sofa. Susan said she needed to explain something, and for him to please not be upset with her for what she had done. She then told him about Mr. Verres, his being with the FBI division of Paranormal Diplomacy and being Grace's de facto father. She told him how she had contacted him after her and Kyle's first meeting when she suspected he was a hybrid like Grace. She told him of Edward's offer. She wanted to know what he wanted to do. Worry was etched over face as she did this. 

As he listened Kyle knew Susan was trying to make this right by him.  
He felt empathy with her. What would he have done if their positions had been reversed?

He thought for a few minutes, then he took her hand in his; she let him do it, and told her that he understood her reasons for her actions. He told her that everything was alright between them.

Relief washed over her face at this.

Judith thought that nothing else could ever surprise her after this night.

Kyle asked Susan if she trusted Mr. Verres and she replied that she did. He said that he trusted both Susan and her mother, so if Edward was trusted by Susan, it was ok if they came over to meet him.

Susan called Edward immediately and told him of their conversation. He said he and Grace would be over momentarily. He DID ask if Ted could come too. Judith said that would be fine.

After all this, Judith said to Kyle…”There’s something I should have done way before now. Please forgive the lateness of it.” She looked at Susan, rose and embraced Kyle in a hug. “Thank you for helping me…for saving me…for giving my life back to me and my baby.” She gave a gentle sob as she said this. Susan blushed at being called that; she had yet to understand motherhood. She got up and hugged Kyle and her mother in a big group hug. She also thanked him for healing her mother. They stood like that for a minute when Judith said Edward would be there shortly. Kyle was taken aback at the embrace from both women, but he believed that touch like this was something he could easily get used to. 

About fifteen minutes later Mr. Verres, Grace and Ted arrived at the Pompoms home. Judith sat beside Kyle and held his hand while Susan went to the door. She reminded him that Susan trusted this man.

Both rose as the four entered the room. To Kyle, Mr. Verres looked like a regular person, not some scary authority figure. Ted, he noted, was much shorter than him, with purple hair. He’d have to ask him about that later. Grace was beautiful, he thought. She was also much shorter than him in that form, petite, and moved fluidly. He knew size was unimportant and that she probably had a battle form also but, like him, it wasn’t needed.

“Hello young man” Mr. Verres said. “My name is Edward Verres, and these young people are my son and daughter, Ted and Grace.” Each nodded and waved at the introduction.  
“We are very happy to meet you.” 

Kyle introduced himself shyly to each of them. He really didn’t have much experience at this.  
He noted that, through their auras, each was a powerful user of magic in their own right, especially Ted. His aura was absolutely brilliant in color. Having learned from his limited experience with the Pompoms though, he kept this to himself. He did notice that Ted shifted uncomfortably as he did this. “He knows I read the auras” he thought.

Judith invited them all to set down and be comfortable. She offered them something to drink, which they all politely declined. Kyle was much too nervous at the moment to think about such things.

Mr. Verres started off by saying that Kyle was a very special individual, one of only two in existence to his knowledge; Grace being the other one. He asked Kyle to please tell his story to them in his own words. 

So…Kyle told his life story to them completely, with nothing held back. 

Edward listened closely and carefully, interrupting only occasionally to clarify a point he didn’t understand. Ted and Grace were silent throughout his recitation.

Once done, Grace came over to him and hugged him. Kyle must have had a surprised look on his face because Ted explained…”She likes to hug”.

Edward said he had a test he would like to conduct. He would need to point a wand at Kyle to “read him”. He assured those unfamiliar with this that there was no pain or anything nefarious about doing this. He DID say that it would make a loud hum as it read him though. 

Kyle looked uncertainly at Susan and Judith at this request. Susan nodded that it would be ok so he agreed to let Edward do it.

He took a short, thick wand-like apparatus out of his coat pocket and directed it in Kyle’s direction and thumbed the activation switch. A loud noise emanated from the device making Kyle, Judith, AND Ted jump a bit. It didn’t take long for the wand to finish. A slight beep sounded and OOH YEEAAH! appeared on the screen. So…that clenched it for Edward. Kyle was exactly what he said he was.

He told Kyle that the wand had authenticated his being a hybrid like Grace. He also told everyone that Kyle was most probably safe from any pursuit from the past, present or future. Kyle’s mouth fell open at this, as did Susan’s and Judith’s. 

“How do you know this!?” the three of them exclaimed simultaneously.

He told them that he had found the link to Kyle’s birth egg. It was the same Uryuom that had supplied the eggs to the facility where Grace and her “family” were born. Once they had tracked his movements, they were able to locate the facility they believed Kyle was born in. The FBI had raided it earlier that afternoon. What they found was that it had been abandoned for at least two years. It had been stripped clean of equipment, and no personnel remained. There was a sign on the gate that said “Private Property CLOSED”. He could only surmise that, with the timing, Kyles escape had panicked the administrators of the lab, so they shut everything down. Where everyone had gone was unknown, but that facility was no more.

“So Kyle is my brother?” Grace asked. She considered Mr. Guyur her father, so if he was Kyle’s father also…he must be her brother! Her mind thought like that.

“Well…Yes Grace.” Edward answered, stretching the reasoning a bit.

YAY! shouted Grace, jumping up and hugging Kyle again. “It’s gonna take time to get used to this”, Kyle thought.

So he was safe, and didn’t have to worry about being taken back. 

“So now that you are no longer on the run young man, said Mr. Verres, what do you want to do?”

“I…I don’t know sir”, he answered truthfully. The last years have been spent running away from something. Now I find I don’t have to do that anymore. At nights while running I would dream of being like other kids my age, going to school, being in a family, having a last name! I don’t even know how to start”. His voice cracked a little as he said this. Everyone in the room choked up, even Edward.

“You will need to have someone sponsor you Kyle, Mr. Verres said. You’re a minor and legally can’t be on your own. When do you turn eighteen?”

“In four days sir”, Kyle answered. Both Judith and Susan started at this.

“You were born on January first!?” asked Judith.

“What time!?” asked Susan?

“The records said 1202 AM. The scientists really tried for midnight, but apparently I didn’t cooperate” he answered. He felt he was missing something again.

That did it for Judith! Susan came to the same realization at the same time!

“I could try to find you a foster family to stay with, he said, one knowledgeable in individuals such as you, though I’m not sure where I can find one that meets those qualifications.” 

“HE CAN LIVE WITH US!” both Pompoms women said at the same time, then each looked at the other surprisedly. Kyle’s eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open. Grace had the biggest shit eating grin that had ever existed on her face. The only sound she could make was…”SQUEEEEEEEE!!

“You can’t be serious about placing him with some stranger!” Judith continued. The irony of that statement was not lost on anyone in the room.

“You…want me to stay!?” Kyle asked, a tear started down his cheek.

“Yes Kyle”, Judith answered gently. “We want you to stay”. “Mr. Verres, I can make this as official as need be. Whatever it takes!”

“I was hoping you would say that Ma’am”, Edward replied. I had considered you and Susan to be the best candidates for this.”

“Were you planning to tell US that Edward?” Judith countered. 

“Only if necessary ma’am”, he returned. Edward may have looked nondescript but he could easily hold his own when needed.

He said he would arrange testing for Kyle to determine his educational level, as well as setting up his attendance in school once that was determined. He also said he would prepare the proper forms for legal guardianship to make it official. 

He told Judith to the side that if she wished to adopt Kyle, he would be able to facilitate that also, but there was no rush in that now.

As they were preparing to leave, Kyle walked to Ted and said quietly to him. “I know you are a very powerful magic user, and that you know that I know that. When I read your aura it made you uncomfortable. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. It’s something I’ve done reflexively as a protection to warn me in the past. I won’t tell anyone about you if you don’t want me to. I promise.” 

Ted said that the only person he really didn’t want told was his father. Kyle looked at him questioningly but nodded and shook Ted’s hand.

Grace came over and gave him a big hug and said…”We’ll talk more later. I know it’s really late.” It WAS actually. It was a little before one in the morning. 

Edward walked over and shook Kyles hand…”You are a really fortunate young man,” he said.  
“This is a wonderful family you are a part of now. They need you just as much as you need them. Take care of them as they will take care of you.” That’s what family is all about, after all.” 

Later, as he lay in bed he thought about the last several days, of all the things that could have gone wrong, and of everything that had gone right to bring him to this moment. His decision to come to Moperville was the most extreme. Kyle had originally planned to bypass the city and continue on, but something changed his mind. He whispered thanks to whatever deity had led him down this path. He asked that he be worthy of the gift he had been given.

“You are very welcome!” Zeus answered silently.


End file.
